


Till the End of Time

by JadeyKins



Category: Agent Carter - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M, Steve's treated as dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 04:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5360519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeyKins/pseuds/JadeyKins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not long after Steve's disappearance, Agent Peggy Carter continues the fight against HYDRA. She isn't the only one, their former lover Jack Harkness has strolled back into Peggy's life. As she battles grief and enemy combatants, Peggy will have to figure out her life beyond Steve and the 107th. And the more time goes on, the more she realizes that there's something more to Captain Jack Harkness. Is he as trust-worthy as he seems, or is Peggy one more in a long list of the conman's marks?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till the End of Time

People were kind. Peggy had plastered on the fake smile and forced everyone else to believe she was all right. Stiff upper lip, keep her chin high so the boys’ club wouldn’t think her some weak woman, but there were nights in those first few weeks where she cried. She’d wake in the morning feeling as if she’d never been to bed in the first place.

Despite her efforts, the weariness must have shown. Probably the lack of make-up to cover the growing dark circles under her eyes. No one said anything—after all, the Red Skull had lost, but there was still a war on—because she wasn’t the only one facing exhaustion. But people were giving her a wide berth. She was grateful for it, most of the time.

Tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Peggy put on her freshly pressed uniform, lessened those dark circles with some make-up, brightened up her lips with a nice shade of red, and headed to officers’ club. She wore that well-practiced smile, putting as much effort as she could into it, but the others were all drifting to their various cliques. With Dugan and the rest of the 107th off on the frontlines, Peggy didn’t have an enormous amount of friends at the base, and less that felt close. Of course, one of the only people she wanted to see was somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic.

The heartache was quick in returning. She quickly wiped at her eye. Determined not to make a show in public, she took a deep breath, forced the smile on again, and motioned for the bartender to come back. When he did, she said, “I’d like to pay my tab, please.”

“Leaving already?” a familiar voice behind her asked.

Peggy whirled around. Standing before her was one Captain Jack Harkness—though her intelligence reports stated the rank was self-given. His appearance was a shock. Torchwood had recalled Jack ages ago, claiming they needed him elsewhere. “Jack!”

He grinned broadly and took the stool next to her. “Mind if I join you?”

“Please, do.”

“Still need to close your tab, Carter?” the bartender asked.

Peggy opened her mouth to say no, but Jack said, “Put hers on mine. I’m paying tonight. I’ll take a bourbon. Get her another drink too.”

“You don’t have to,” Peggy said.

Jack turned towards her and leaned against the bar, his foot resting on the bottom rung of her stool. He was all long legs and easy confidence. So much like the last time she’d seen him. “I want to.”

The captain was at ease, practically happy. Peggy clutched her hand around the new glass and waited for the bartender to wander off. _If he knew, he wouldn’t be in such a good mood_. _Or perhaps he does know._ Peggy took a sip and a deep breath. “You must have heard the news.”

“About Steve,” Jack said. The solemn way his smile vanished was almost another heartbreak on its own. He dropped his foot off the barstool and moved closer to Peggy, gently resting a hand on her shoulder. “Whole world has heard.”

“Yes, I suppose they have.” His sympathy was plain to see. Those dreaded tears were welling up in her eyes. “Please remove your hand, Jack.”

The edge in her voice dragged out even more sadness in Jack’s expression as he obeyed her wish. “I’m sorry to overstep our familiarity. I just thought—”

“It’s not that,” Peggy said quickly. She glanced over her shoulder, but no one was directly watching them. “I’m a figure here, Jack, and it’s been weeks.”

“And seeing one of their leaders cry would be bad for morale.”

“I’m afraid so. We’re at a low point as it is.”

“Don’t worry. Not much longer now.”

Peggy frowned at him. “That’s far less cryptic than your usual teases. How soon?”

Jack grinned, though it was a ghost of his usual amusement. “That would be spoiling it for you.”

“I could use a little good news.”

With a shake of his head, Jack said, “You’re one of the few people it’s actually dangerous to tell.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve got just enough influence to change outcomes. Enough to wreck or uphold the way the future’s supposed to go.”

Peggy snorted. “You must have me confused with someone else.”

Jack took her hand and the move was so public that Peggy immediately met his gaze in order to scold him. But there was something so serious in his expression, so determined in his blue eyes, that she hesitated. “When did you start underestimating yourself?”

 _When I lost him_. Peggy took her hand back sharply, reflexively smoothed the uniform. “I assure you, I know quite well what a woman is capable of in the current climate.”

“Oh come on, when you were ever _just_ a woman? You’re one of the best agents out there.”

“As are you, which makes me wonder what you’re doing back here. I believe you said that the war had become too ‘pedestrian’ for your organization’s objectives,” Peggy said.

“New intel.” Jack ran his thumb around the edge of his glass before he finally picked it up and tossed back the contents. “I’d love to discuss the issue you with you, but not here.”

“We could discuss matters in my quarters.”

“Suits me.” Jack waved down the bartender as he pulled out his wallet.

Peggy watched him settle up the tabs, wondering why she’d been so bold to invite Jack back. _It isn’t as if he hasn’t been in your bed before_. But that wasn’t really the prospect that had her intrigued right now. Captain Jack Harkness was mostly a mystery and here he was, dangling another potential adventure in front of her nose.

They walked out of the club together and Jack offered out his arm to her. Peggy hesitated, but slipped her hand around his forearm. In the dark, people weren’t likely to get a good look at them. Besides, no one would think anything of an RAF man walking a woman home. She hadn’t thought this all the way through, though. Taking his arm, walking close to him, Peggy could finally smell that unique blend of honey, chocolate, and undertones of cherry that was Jack. No other man had ever smelled this way. She’d missed that scent on her sheets.

Peggy took in a deep breath, pushing away the grief yet again. She slowly withdrew her arm and Jack shot her a worried look. “I’m sorry. It’s just—Jack, the last time I saw you, we were—I mean, the three of us. Well, I’m so sorry, but being too close to you is bringing it all back in vivid details I’m not sure I’m ready to face.”

Jack had that ghost of a smile again, as if his heart echoed her own pain. He caught her staring at him and grinned a bit more. “Honestly, you’re doing the same for me. I volunteered to be here. They were going to send someone else, but I had to see you.”

“You miss him,” Peggy said.

“The whole world does.”

“Not like us.”

Jack nodded, and Peggy could swear that even in the dark she could see tears forming up in his eyes. “No, not like us.”

They slipped into the hotel then and up the stairs. Peggy paused a second before twisting the key in the lock before reprimanding herself. Jack had come here to share information, not with the expectation of other activities. She opened up the bedroom door and allowed him in. Another debate waged inside her until she heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes at herself. Jack had seen her in all manners of undressed. These heels were annoying, the uniform jacket unpleasant, and she had no clue what manner of hell he was going to deliver. Peggy stripped off the jacket, laying it out on the bed beside her as she sat. As she took off her shoes, she asked, “All right, what is this important information Torchwood is willing to share with SSR?”

Jack took an envelope out of his pocket. “HYDRA isn’t done.”

Peggy leaped up and took the envelope from him and dug into it. There were a handful of papers, mostly maps. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. Gathered this information myself. Something else, though, Peggy.”

She was still pouring over the papers. The data looked right and that base wasn’t too far from the 107th’s current location. “Hm?”

“They’ve got something alien. Again.”

“And let me guess, you want to come along and nab it for Torchwood.” Peggy already had a dozen different ideas on how to invade the base, but she’d do her best thinking with Dugan. After they got some more intelligence, of course.

Jack grabbed her arm and Peggy glanced up again. A sort of fury was lurking in Jack’s eyes. “No. That’s the _last_ thing that can happen with the Obelisk. _You_ have to take it and lock it away. It’s dangerous.”

“How dangerous?” Peggy asked.

Jack pulled another envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. “This is just what we could get our hands on.”

Her brows knitted together in worry, Peggy opened the second envelope. A series of photographs showed ashen bodies. She’d gotten a glimpse of concentration camp photos. These were similar and different and Peggy wished she could pretend these weren’t human lives, but she knew better. Tightening her jaw, she raised her eyes back to Jack. “HYDRA has a weapon that can do this?”

“And they’re trying to expand it. Gets worse.”

“How?”

“Torchwood wants the Obelisk and the research.”

“You mean Torchwood has every intention of finishing the weapon,” Peggy said.

“Exactly.”

“That is _horrifying_.” Peggy shoved the photos against Jack’s chest. “These were people! Live people! We haven’t sacrificed this much so we can become the monsters!”

Jack gently closed his hand around her wrist and put the other one on her shoulder. “That’s why it has to be you that goes after it. I can trust you to bury it, Peggy.”

“And how are you going to explain losing it to your people?” she asked.

Jack smirked. “I may have played up our previous entanglements. Told them I was best fit for this mission because we were close.” He closed in, his hand going to her waist. “ _Very_ close. I plan on telling them that I was playing the angle to get in good with you again, but that you, Agent Carter, were smarter than I realized. And just when I thought I had my hooks in you, you took off with the prize.”

He let her go and she almost swayed after him. No one had gripped her like that in a while. Not in any tantalizing way. Peggy took in a deep breath and centered herself before daring to look at the captain again. “You cheapened our relationship by behaving as if you were conning me. Us.”

Jack actually had the decency to look guilty—a truly rare sight. “When is anything in our line of work honest?”

Peggy tightened her hand around the envelopes. “We were. You, me, Steve. That was real. And I believe it’s my integrity that you are counting on now, captain.”

“Fair point.” Jack chuckled. “There’s the fire I missed.”

“Don’t. I’m hardly in the mood for any more games.” Peggy went to the desk and put down the papers. As she smoothed them, she sensed Jack was coming closer. Fury not yet tempered, she spun around to face him again. “Torchwood. Bloody, stupid, idiotic Torchwood. Have your people been sitting on potential technology that could have helped the Allies win this war?”

Jack’s jaw clenched. She’d angered him. Good. “We’ve been doing our part, Agent.”

“Have you? Because I wager that you’ve got plenty stored away in that head of yours. You know this timeline, Jack. You could have done something. With your knowledge, you could have stopped this whole thing.” Her eyes widened with realization. “Did you know?”

“About what?” Jack asked.

“About _Steve_.” Peggy stepped closer, but something about her demeanor made Jack walk backwards. She continued until Jack was against the door. “Did you know what was going to happen to him? Did you know he was going to sacrifice himself like that? That I was going to lose him? Could you have stopped it?”

“No. I—”

“And now I can’t believe you,” Peggy said. “You who would lie to your superiors about the nature of our relationship because it would suit you. How do I know that you didn’t lie to us? Which is the truth, Jack? We were anything more than a convenient way to spy on SSR and American forces? Did you ever share anything real about yourself? Or, as I’m beginning to suspect, has everything always been a careful performance?”

“I loved him. I still love you,” Jack said with an angry grief that Peggy had been feeling in her core for weeks. He was shaking.

Peggy took a step back. She wasn’t afraid of him—he would never hurt her—but suddenly sorry that she had pushed so far. Upset at herself, she could no longer meet his gaze. Tears were forming. This time she couldn’t stop them. They ran down her cheeks in hot streams. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But you left. And he’s gone. I said stupid things to keep him going and all anyone can do is look at me like some creature of pity. I’m alone. Entirely alone and I don’t know what to do.”

She might have said more, but Jack wrapped his arms around her and brought her in close. The tears fell, the mutterings continued dropping off of her lips, and she became a mess in his warm, comforting hold. When her nose stopped running, the smell of him soothed her more. She gently pushed away, wiping the last of her tears away. Jack’s eyes were pale blue, his tears still creeping down his face. Peggy straightened his jacket and managed a small grin. “I’ve made quite the mess out of you, Captain.”

A broken laugh spilled out of Jack. “Isn’t the first time.” 

Peggy took a deep, calming breath. “All right. Take off your coat and shirt. I suspect you’ve brought a bit more HYDRA intelligence that I should look over. You and I need to come up with a sound reconnaissance plan before we can present this to anyone.”

Jack shrugged out of his jacket and arched an eyebrow. “Trying to get me naked, Agent Carter?”

Peggy smiled, the first genuine one that had come to her in almost a month. “Why, Captain Harkness, I doubt I’d need to go to such extreme lengths. As I remember, all I have to do is say please.”

A louder, happier laugh burst out of Jack. And Peggy tried not to let her heartbreak again. They had each other at the moment, and a mission. She could focus and get through this. After all, Steve had given his life defeating HYDRA. Peggy was going to make sure they _stayed_ down.


End file.
